Electric Shower Cost Calculator

This electric shower cost calculator works out what an electric shower costs to run per shower, per week, per month and per year for UK and European households. Pick your shower’s kW rating, enter how many minutes each shower lasts, how many showers your household takes a day and your electricity unit rate. It also shows how much you would save a year by cutting every shower by one minute.

Quick answer: an electric shower cost calculator multiplies the shower’s kW rating by the minutes used, divides by 60 and multiplies by your unit rate. An 8 minute shower on a 9.5 kW unit uses 1.27 kWh, about 33p at the October 2026 cap of 26.32p, or £243.37 a year for two a day.

What Is an Electric Shower Cost Calculator?

An electric shower cost calculator is a tool that estimates the electricity cost of each shower and of a household’s showers over a year, from the shower’s power rating, shower length and your unit rate.

The formula in plain words: an electric shower heats water as it flows, drawing its full rated power the whole time it runs. Energy per shower in kWh equals the rating in kW times the minutes, divided by 60. Cost per shower equals that energy times your unit rate. Multiply by showers per day and by 365 for a year, by 7 for a week, and divide the year by 12 for a month.

How Do You Use the Electric Shower Cost Calculator?

1. Choose your shower’s rating: 7.5, 8.5, 9.5, 10.5 or 10.8 kW. It is printed on the unit, its label or the manual.
2. Enter the average minutes per shower. Time a few showers with your phone for an honest figure.
3. Enter the total number of showers your household takes each day.
4. Enter your electricity unit rate in pence per kWh. The default is the Ofgem cap of 26.32p for October to December 2026.
5. Read the electric shower cost calculator results: cost per shower and per year, energy per shower, weekly and monthly costs, and the yearly saving from one minute less.

How Much Does an Electric Shower Cost to Run per Minute?

At 26.32p per kWh, an electric shower costs about 3.3p to 4.7p a minute depending on its rating: a 7.5 kW shower uses 0.125 kWh a minute (3.3p) and a 10.8 kW shower uses 0.18 kWh a minute (4.7p).

The unit rate currently carries no VAT, because VAT on household electricity is 0% from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027, according to Ofgem’s price cap rates page. Your standing charge is paid whether you shower or not, so the electric shower cost calculator leaves it out.

Electric Shower Running Costs by kW Rating

An 8 minute shower costs between 26p on a 7.5 kW unit and 38p on a 10.8 kW unit at the October 2026 cap rate, as the table from this electric shower cost calculator shows.

Is a Higher kW Electric Shower More Expensive to Run?

Per minute yes, but not per litre of hot water: a higher rated shower uses more power because it heats more water each minute, so you get a stronger flow at the same temperature. If you shower for the same time, a 10.5 kW unit costs about 11% more than a 9.5 kW unit.

The minutes you spend under the water matter more than the rating, which is why the electric shower cost calculator shows the saving from cutting one minute. Upgrading to a higher rating may also need a thicker cable and a larger protective device, which only an electrician can assess.

Worked Example: The Okafor Family’s Shower Bill

The Okafors used the electric shower cost calculator to check their bill. They are a family of four in Cardiff with a 9.5 kW electric shower. Each person showers once a day, and a week of timing with a phone shows an average of 7 minutes. They pay the price cap rate of 26.32p per kWh.

• Energy: 9.5 kW x 7 / 60 = 1.108 kWh per shower
• Cost: 1.108 x 26.32p = 29.17p per shower
• Week: £8.17, month: £35.49
• Year: £425.90
• One minute less each: £60.84 a year saved

Running the electric shower cost calculator again at 5 minutes gives £304.22 a year, a saving of £121.68. A shower timer or a playlist of two songs is an easy way to hold that target.

How Can You Cut the Cost of an Electric Shower?

Shortening showers is the biggest free saving the electric shower cost calculator can show you: every minute cut from a 9.5 kW shower saves about 4.2p per person per shower at today’s cap rate.

• Use a shower timer and agree a household target.
• Use the eco or lower power setting in warmer months if your model has one.
• Descale the shower head so the flow is not restricted.
• If you are on a time of use tariff, remember that showers are rarely in the cheap window, so enter your daytime rate.
• On a water meter, shorter showers also cut water and sewerage charges.

To compare the cost of other appliances, use the electricity cost calculator. If you also have a gas combi boiler, the gas bill calculator helps you see what share of your gas goes on hot water.

Do You Need an Electrician to Fit an Electric Shower?

Yes. An electric shower needs its own circuit from the consumer unit, and in England Approved Document P makes a new circuit, and additions or alterations to circuits in a room with a bath or shower, notifiable work. Use a qualified electrician registered with a competent person scheme, or notify building control.

Never swap a shower for a higher rated model on the old cable without an electrician checking the circuit, because an undersized cable can overheat. Plumbing and electrics in bathrooms mix water and high current, so this is not a DIY job.

Common Mistakes When Working Out Shower Costs

• Guessing shower length. Time a few real showers before using the electric shower cost calculator.
• Using the wrong rating. Check the label inside the cover or the manual, not the box of a different model.
• Counting showers per person instead of per household. The calculator needs the total for everyone.
• Adding the standing charge to each shower. It is paid anyway, whether the shower runs or not.
• Forgetting water. On a water meter, every minute also costs water and sewerage.

Rerun the electric shower cost calculator whenever your tariff changes, for example when the price cap is updated each quarter or if VAT on electricity returns after 31 March 2027.

What Does an Electric Shower Cost in Ireland and the EU?

Using Eurostat household electricity prices for the second half of 2025, an 8 minute shower on a 9.5 kW unit costs about €0.37 at the EU average of €28.96 per 100 kWh, €0.49 in Germany and €0.51 in Ireland. For two showers a day that is €267.78, €357.75 and €373.75 a year in the electric shower cost calculator.

Electric Shower Cost Calculator FAQs

Checked October 2026. Sources: Ofgem energy price cap, GOV.UK Approved Document P, Eurostat.